The training program is mandatory for any Rice Military resident who wishes to participate in Citizens Patrol.

The civic club held its first training session in November as the neighborhood steps up its effort to help combat the growing number of burglaries and thefts in the area.

"Our neighborhood is in transition," said Mike Egan, Citizens Patrol chairman for Rice Military Civic Club. "We're seeing a lot more people who are concerned about petty crimes."

Residents who complete the hour-long program and apply to be on the patrol will receive, following a background check, a Citizens Patrol card and will be authorized to patrol the neighborhood.

Houston Police Department Officer Carol Trautwein, who runs the training program, said a neighborhood must have between 16-20 participants in the program to get off the ground, and a community must log a minimum 60 patrol hours a month.

She said participation in November's training program was high and that Rice Military appears to be a neighborhood that will benefit from having the patrol.

"We got a lot of applications after the first training session," Trautwein said. "The neighborhood really wants to do it and we're hoping that this can be a model for future neighborhoods."

Trautwein said the training program teaches the basics of patrolling a neighborhood and arms residents with knowledge they'll need to communicate with police when they see suspicious behavior.

Patrollers are out on the streets for one-hour shifts in their own cars, which have placards indicating they are part of the program.

Communities that log more than 60 hours of Citizens Patrol for a six-month period can apply for signs that can be put up throughout the neighborhood indicating that it's part of the program.

"We want to meet and exceed those target hours, and we want to be consistent enough to get those signs posted," Egan said. "If we can get people out to (tonight's) program, we can be up and running as early as next week."

Trautwein said police studies have shown that Citizens Patrol is effective.

"The numbers show that the patrol reduces crime," she said.

The Rice Military area, which is bounded by Washington Avenue, Memorial Drive, Shepherd and Westcott, includes about 400 homes and is covered by HPD's Durham Storefront.

Egan said he hopes the program will create a stronger coalition between residents and police in the area.

"If we're out there making calls, and we prove to be a reliable source of information, we'll see an effect in response times, which is what we want," he said.